Lay me down to sleep
by The Sand Assassin
Summary: Written for Poriot cafe's Themed Writing Contest #27: Sport. The world revolves around causes and effects. And there is a valid reason as to why Ran is wary of the supernatural. One shot.


**_Special thank you to Taliya for betaing (and on a very short notice)_**

 ** _A/N I've been suffering from nyctophobia lately.  
_**

 ** _Summary: The world revolves around causes and effects. And there is a valid reason as to why Ran is wary of the supernatural._**

…

The soft chatter within the room was dim, like a whisper in the back of her mind. Everything had turned blurry, and the only thing in focus were the pamphlets spread across the table. The sharp contrast of snowy white, mustard yellow, emerald green, rick lilac, fiery red reflected sharply in her eyes. The machine-typed kanji shifted as they danced across the paper and beyond the reach of her limited knowledge of understanding the characters.

Mouri Ran took a step back as someone pushed into her side. She hugged her shoulders, giving herself the illusion of comfort before pushing out of the crowd of her fellow first year elementary students. The six year old girl felt her eyes prickle alarmingly and she rubbed her eyes to keep the tears from spilling.

"Ran."

She felt someone grab her arm, and she flinched away automatically with a cry stuck in the back of her throat. Her eyes darted in the direction of the voice; she barely had the chance to recognize it as her friend Kudou Shinichi, before she broke away to run out of the classroom.

Shame burned in her throat as she heard him call after her in worry.

…

"Ran! Wait up, will you?"

She did not glance back as he caught up with her on the path that ran alongside the river on their way home. Shinichi's quick footsteps pattered softly as he approached her. With every step she hunched further and further in on herself. She considered running but swallowed down the instinct, as she knew her friend would not give up the chase.

Instead she mustered up all the anger she could harness from the cold, tightness in her stomach before she spun around on her heel to face him.

Almost immediately the boy stopped, a relieved smile stretched across his lips. She noticed he was clutching her yellow and pink backpack against his chest, and her stomach dropped at the realization that Shinichi had picked it up for her after she had fled the classroom.

The anger dissipated and she felt suddenly tired as exhaustion crept in; over-body wobbled forward with the lethargy. What had previously been intended to be a sharp, angry voice came out as a subdued whisper: "What do you want, Shinichi?"

The boy's smile faltered for a second, something she only noticed because she knew the boy well. He took a step forward and held her backpack in her direction as a peace offering, or perhaps as a shield as he cowered behind it, vibrating with suppressed energy and the need to know everything—including Ran's every mood.

"You forgot your backpack."

She eyed it carefully for a few long moments, before reaching out to grab it. The moment he let go she clutched it to her chest in a mimicry of what the boy had done previously. She mumbled a quick "Thank you" before returning to her walk. She did not glance back as he followed her.

They walked down the river pathway in silence. A head up, the sky was painted with the primary colours. The western edges was a soft red that turned into a yellow on the fringes before mixing with the blue as it stretched across the sky. It reminded her of a toddler playing with a thick brush. The sun lay heavy and tired where it had begun to dip in the distance. A few clouds could still be seen drifting like puffy marshmallows above their heads.

The only sound that could be heard was the gurgling of the river, the chirping from an oriental greenfinch and the rubble on the path as their shoes made contact with the gravel.

"So, do you know what you want to do?" Shinichi asked conversationally as he breached the silence after a few long moments. His tone was light and inviting and she glanced in his direction to see him gazing at the sky with a soft smile. A gust of the mid-winter wind ruffled his hair and send a cold shiver down her spine.

She looked down. Her stomach dropped as a coldness – which had nothing to do with the chill air – spread across her insides. Ran shook her head sharply, the tips of her shoulder-length hair brushing against her chin from the motion. She had no clue; everyone was expected to choose an extracurricular activity, but nothing spoke to her. She was not particularly interested in sports, and neither was she any good at them. She was scared of the woods, so scouting was out of question. Shinichi always told her how terrible she was at drawing and singing (despite being worse than her). She also did not have the balance for dancing either. And riding was too expensive to be a viable option.

Shinichi had to have noticed her expression, since he dropped his arms from where they had been propped up and behind his head. "You can always come play football with me," he tried with a smile, but she snorted.

"Yeah right, as if. I suck."

He tried protesting, however they both knew it was the truth.

…

The blue and white cat, Doraemon, moved across the screen as he and his friends went on another adventure. Ran was trying to pay attention from where she sat watching on the couch, however her eyelids kept drooping. Somewhere behind the couch, her mother was cleaning with flourishing movements and muttering quietly to herself.

"So, Ran," she stared, her voice soft and impatient as she broke the silent that had settled between the two for the last half an hour.

Ran sat up and turned her head to glance in the direction of Eri. "Yes mama?"

Eri put down her washcloth and approached the girl on the couch. "Have you decided what activity you want to pick up?"

Ran lowered her eyes as a red blotches spread across her cheeks in shame. "No mama."

The woman's eyes softened as she laid a hand on her daughter's head. "Don't worry about it, Ran. Something will show up that will interest you in no time," she crouched by the couch and pinched the girl playfully on the cheek. "Why not karate?"

Ran crunched her nose inquisitively in response. "But that's a boy sport."

Eri laughed at the suggestion and shook her head. "Women are just as good, if not better." She smiled ruefully, and a warmth spread in Ran's chest at her mother's words. She nodded, her mood perking up slightly as she hugged her mother.

The lawyer hugged her back before picking her up. "Come on, sweetie. It's time to head to bed."

Ran squirmed but did not protest. Instead settling with asking if her father would come in and say goodnight. Her mother shook her head with a soft, dejected smile on her lips.

"He is working late."

…

The room was almost pitch black. Only the faded glow from a streetlight further down the road illuminated the room through the cracks of her shutters. From the dim light one could see the contour of a shelf filled with toys, one or two dolls on the floor, the closed door to the closet, and the bed.

Ran lay under the coves, her teddy bear rested peacefully in her arms. There was a mechanical hum as a car drew close; for a few moments the room flashed brightly. She opened her eyes as the sudden lights woke her from her slumber.

She glanced around. Though she did not know what time it was; she knew it had to be late as the room was still dark with the thick blanket of night. The girl turned on her side, pressing the teddy bear to her chest as she yawned.

Her eyes drifted close once more as she fully intended to fall back to sleep. However, thoughts of the previous day drifted across her mind, her stomach tightened with worry of her indecisiveness. It felt as though every one of her peers knew exactly what they wanted to do. Shinichi had his football and Sonoko her art.

There was a creak as something fell on the floor. Ran's eyes popped open, her heart racing in surprise of the sudden noise. She glanced around – however, the darkness proved to be too thick for her to locate the source. It probably was just a toy that had lost its fight against gravity and fell.

She shifted her position again and huffed at herself for jumping at every sound. But now that she was fully awake, she felt restless. Her ears picked up on the noises within the house. The kitchen refrigerator hummed softly in the distance; the clock in the living room ticked, she could barely hear the moments of her mother as she slept restlessly in another room.

The hairs on her arm stood suddenly and an involuntarily shiver slid down her spine. She had the unnerving feeling that someone was watching her. Her eyes prickled as she glanced across the room trying to look for the intruder. Her search, however, proved to be a failure.

She was alone. Ran swallowed thickly and moved her covers above her head.

There was another sound. This time the creaking noise came from the door.

Ran clenched her teeth together, heart now racing in alarm as the instinct to flee grew to an almost overwhelming degree. She peeked carefully from under her bedcovers; almost immediately her eyes darted in the direction of the door to the closet.

It was not ajar where it had previously been closed. For a second, she could swear she saw the whiteness of an eyeball shine in the pitch-black crack as another car drew by.

Her throat tightened in fear, and before she could fully control her limbs she was already out of the bed, out the door, down the corridor, and bursting into her mother's bedroom.

Eri sat up from the sudden noise. Her hair was a ruffled mess, and her eyes squinted at the doorway from sleep and the blurriness accompanied with the lack of corrective lenses.

"Ran?" she mumbled with a coarse voice filled with drowsiness.

Without answering, the girl sprang towards her mother's bedside. She grabbed her hand and started to yank. "Mum, mama. There is something in the closet," her voice came out strangled as tears prickled in her eyes. "You have to come, there's – there's a monster in my closet."

Eri blinked at her in a daze for a long moments before the words sank in. She looked tired and only shook her head before breaking her daughter's hold on her hand and grabbing Ran's to place a soft kiss on her palms.

"There is no such thing as monsters, Ran." She said softly, trying to keep the vexation of being woken at an ungodly hour at bay as she said patiently to her daughter; "You only had a nightmare, sweetie. Just go back to bed."

Ran's stomach sank in disbelief and disappointment. It churned in her chest and sent an unpleasant chill down her spine. Didn't her mother believe her? "But mama-"

"No, Ran," an edge of steel snuck into her mother's voice in what she recognized as her 'lawyer-voice'.

The girl dropped her head and took a step back. "I'm sorry. I'll go back to bed."

Eri nodded in agreement; before softening and placing another kiss on her daughter's palm before releasing her and laying back in bed. "Sleep tight, angel."

Ran eyed her for another moment, uncertainty filling her mind. Maybe she had just been mistaken? Her mother was always right after all. Feeling a tad better, she turned around, stepped out of the room and walked back into her bedroom.

She kept the door open this time as she climbed into the bed. The shadows of the room fled as the dim light from the kitchen illuminated the room. She closed her eyes, reassured that the monster would stay away as long as her room was lit. Shadows were powerless against the light, after all.

Just as a precaution, she put her teddy bear on her chest before folding her hands, and her lips started to move in an familiar goodnight prayer; _"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep –"_

After she was done, the teddy bear was once more enveloped in a protective hug.

There was silence for a long time after that, and she slowly started to drift off to sleep. It all had just been a trick of the light, she decided. There were, of course, no monsters in the closet; the thought felt ludicrous to her now.

The sound of another creak left her wide awake again. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and held her breath as a mantra of her mother's words echoed in her mind. ' _There is no such thing as monsters, Ran,'_ and _'You are not real'_.

Something scratched against a wooden surface she identified as the closet door. It was quickly followed by the noise of someone or something moving around. She hiccupped wetly as tears started streaking down her chin.

' _It's not real. It's not real. Go away, go away.'_

An object fell on the floor, and she sat up. Her teddy bear was held in front of her as though it could shield her from the monster. Her throat constricted and her system was filled with panicked adrenaline as she realized the closet door was now _closed_.

Once again, she fled from her room and barged into her mother's. She cried hysterically as she went to her mother's side. " _Mama_. The monster is still there. Please make him leave."

Eri barely turned to her side to look dazed up at her daughter. A look of concern flickered across her face at the tear stricken girl. She sat up slowly, still heavy with sleep as she focused at her. "What makes you think there is something in your closet, Ran?"

Ran hiccupped again, and it took her two tries before she managed to bite out, "It keeps moving around and knocking things over and opening and closing the door. Please mama, I'm scared."

This time alarm bells rang inside Eri's head and she rose from the bed. One hand grabbed her daughter's, the other one reaching for her glasses. "Alright, Ran. I'll look, but then you'll have to promise to go right back to bed, okay?"

The girl nodded in agreement, a small smile directed at her mother as she sniffed loudly. She dried her tears with the palm of her hand and squished Eri's.

Together, they walked to the little girl's bedroom. Eri clicked on the lights. The lamps blinked once, before illuminating the small space. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first glance.

Ran moved to hide behind her mother's leg as she peered in the direction of the closet.

Looking down, Eri sighed softly. She loved Ran dearly, however she was not in the habit of being a mother hen. However, something had truly scared her, and her mother instinct told her to check. Her daughter did not have the habit of waking her parents up at night, and Eri had vowed to always check just to reassure her if Ran ever came into her bedroom at night twice.

Taking quick steps towards the door, her hand hesitated on the doorknob before pushing it open with more force then she had originally intended. It smacked against the wall with a soft thump. For a second her heart jumped before the contents of the small space was revealed.

It was empty.

Eri sighed in relief, and the muscles that had tightened in case she needed to fight relaxed. She looked down at her daughter. "See? There is nothing there."

Ran kept looking vacantly into the now lit space. She finally looked up as her mother spoke and nodded once. Even though the space had showed to be empty, she had a nagging, crawling feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong. They were not _alone_ in the room. There was something watching them.

However, a promise was a promise and she let her self be led to the bed willingly. Noticing her teddy bear lying on the floor, she leaned down to pick him up while her mother closed the door.

Something white shot out of the bed and wrapped itself around her outstretched hand. It felt rubbery and clammy against her bare skin. It took her a few seconds to recognize the object as fingers and her eyes moved quickly to follow the arm into the darkness of the gap under the bed. There were dark eyes staring up at her from within.

A pale face stared back at her.

Only, it was not a human one. Half of the face disappeared into a curling, black mess made of nightmares and darkness. The same substance covered its head and there was nothing but blackness from the rest of the body as though it was made from the very shadows under her bed.

There were only the eyes, the dark, unnaturally large eyes that did not leave her face for a moment.

Fear shot through her, and she opened her mouth to scream. However her throat was so tight with terror as only a small, strangled ' _mama'_ escaped her lips.

From behind her, she heard Eri move before an alarmed 'Ran!' was heard. A foot came out of nowhere to step on the monster's pale arm, and he let go with a ferocious growl.

Ran felt strong arms wrap around her before her mother picked her up and sprinted out of the room and to the front door. She opened and put her daughter down.

"Get to the Watanabes next door and tell them to call the police," was the last thing she heard before the door was shut closed.

Ran's eyes prickled as she stared at the closed door. A hand was halfway to the doorknob, before the situation clicked in. Her mother had been out of breath and desperate. She had never heard Eri sound like that before.

She swallowed thickly and glanced once more in the direction of the door before running down the stairs and getting swallowed up by the darkness of the corridor…

… all the while hoping her mother would be safe.

…

Ran watched from the window as the red and white lights illuminated the street below. The police sirens breached the otherwise silent night, warning all evil-doers of their presence and brought a loud-pitch ringing to her ears that would last through the remainder of the night.

She watched as her father came sprinting up to the door with his gun raised, and later she was told how he had found his wife standing over the intruder in Ran's bedroom. An old man with a dark beard had been knocked out and lay motionless on the floor.

Ran had spent the entire night at the Watanabe home waiting for her parents to come back. She stared out the window of her neighbour's apartment at the homeless man as he was escorted to the car by two policemen.

She was not told as to how he had broken into the apartment or how long he had been in Ran's closet. Neither were his intentions revealed to her: that is, if the grown-ups even knew the reasons (she had her speculations, however, but did not impart her hypothesis to anyone but Shinichi, who snorted in response).

The next time Ran complained about a monster in her closet; her father would always come check it out with his gun drawn just in case.

Ran started taking karate lessons the week following the incident.


End file.
